


Blood Thieves

by goopllmw



Category: Area 11, The Yogscast
Genre: Alien!Strife, Aliens, Assassins, Bards, Blood, Fantasy, Gore, Lumians, M/M, Magic, Vampire!Parv, Vampires, Werewolves, Wezen!Sjin, Wezens, thieves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 20:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6625198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goopllmw/pseuds/goopllmw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two adventurers, Parvis and Strife are on the run in Sonatoran, each hold they stay in they must leave. Together they are unstoppable. Join them on their journey through thick and thin. There are ruins to be looted, guards to be killed and more importantly hearts to be stolen.</p><p>ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One - Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this seems so short, I'm trying to make them slightly longer in the future, so chapter 3 will be longer. Chapter 2 will be of similar length.

Pastel colours painted the sky as day turned to night. Ripples in the water formed as water droplets fell from the branches above. Two figures sat below the large gnarled oak tree in the centre of the deserted forest. Green light illuminated from one of the two, lighting up the darkness. Broken branches littered the floor like an infectious plague. Silence engulfed the two young boys as time continued to wear on, darkness continuing to flow in.

  
Hands by their side, each of the two slipped into their own personal thoughts. The temperature began to drop as the night continued to hold its place. Moonlight crept in through the gaps between the highest tree branches; slowly but surely, each of the three moons visible, plastering the floor with shades of red, purple and green. Shuffling slightly, the taller of the two began to fiddle with his shirt. Whilst he began to slip on his fur jacket, the shorter blonde stared up at the sky, wishing to return home.

"Do you miss it?" The taller boy asked softly, turning his gaze towards his smaller travelling companion.

"Of course I do, it's where I grew up," he replied hoarsely.

Parvis, the taller of the two stood up, holding out his hand to pull his friend up. Happy to oblige, his smaller blonde friend took his hand and pulled himself upright. Every step they took, the brighter the moons became. Both of them stopped when they reached a pond in the central forest. Shivering violently, Strife, the smaller blonde, moved in closer to Parvis.

"Strife I told you we should've bought that fur armour, your ampullae might freeze and break." Parvis scolded Strife, holding his arm whilst he pulled out an old blanket from his bag.

Strife continued to gaze at the reflection of the moon as Parv draped the blanket over Strife's shoulders, pulling it tightly. Fireflies glowed as bright as Strife's alien eyes behind them. Small wisps of wind blew gently through the forest and ripples throughout the pond. A single gust of wind cause leaves to fall and break in flurries.

"We should get some sleep and set up a shelter, it looks like it's going to snow." Strife said quietly, almost nothing but a whisper in the darkness.

"Yeah, it's bloody freezing." Parv replied, shivering violently.

Each of the two rustled around in their bags to gather the leather and fur required for shelter and bedding. After awhile of throwing things out of their bags to reach the bottom, they slowly made it. Weapon after weapon, gauntlet after gauntlet, boot after boot, potion after potion, they finally found some fur. Although foe fur wasn't the best, they could make do and put loads of it together. Leather was one of the last things they found, but yet again they fell short of the required materials. Between the two of them, they could only find one piece of leather from a cow.

Hastily, they managed to throw together a makeshift shelter from the materials they had. Strife stepped back, examining their shelter.

"Well it isn't the best, but it will have to do, anyway the temperature is already starting to drop significantly." He told Parvis whilst finding all of the material he could to make bedding.

Once comfortable, each of the two curled up in their own separate tents, protecting themselves from the predators which lurk in the night.  
 


	2. Chapter Two - The Adventure Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is slightly longer than the last I think. Hope you enjoy, post any criticism, advice, suggestions or praise in the comments below.

Snow glistened on the tops of the tents as Parvis and Strife awoke at the break of dawn. The alien shook his head and brushed some stray hairs out of his face. Finding some spare fat in his knapsack, he dipped his fingers in it and slicked his hair back. As he got out of the tent, he picked up his ebony armour, slipping it on, he put his ebony blade into its sheath and stocked up on magic tipped arrows. Smells of cooking meat floated through the air and covered Strife like an avalanche. Strolling towards the side of the pond, Strife found Parvis sat by a fire, coaxing it to grow and roast the meat.

"Someone's up early," Strife spoke cockily, sitting on a moss covered rock beside his fellow adventurer.

"Well I got hungry so I went out hunting and caught quite the catch!" Parv said, holding up a skinned, dripping elk. "This one could get us a lot of gold, well the fur anyway."

"How long have you been up to go hunting and begin to cook?"

"Far too long."

Both of them sat down and Parv handed Strife a rock with some cooled venison on.

"Fancy," he mumbled sarcastically.

As the two ate, the snow began to melt away and leave puddles of water at the base of their tents. The salt on the venison added more than enough needed taste. Anyway, they would find some berries or other edible plants along the way to their next decided location. Strife pulled a map out from the inside of his chest plate.

"So," he began, unrolling the map, "when we stopped for a drink in the Crooked Caber, the barman told me that there's a dwarves ruins around about midway up Kroshan Point." Strife finished, pointing at one of the peaks drawn onto the map.

"Alright, how long will the journey be?"

"Depends, we could walk and it will take just over seven hours, or we steal two horses from the Fronar stables and make it in three."

"And some people think you're the serious one."

***

After around a ten minute walk, the two adventurers found themselves crouches behind the old cobbles wall of the Transcan farm, located less than a quarter of a mile from the Fronar Stables. Out of sight from the guards, Strife pulled out his bow and loaded an arrow into it. Carefully, he drew back the cord; hands skilfully placed to get a steady shot, and lined it up perfectly. One deep breath in, exhaling sharply, he released the cord.

Perfect Shot.

Strife watched intently as the guards' body crumpled to the floor. Rushing over, he dragged the body into the nearest bush before thoroughly checking for any gold or jewellery. Happy with his findings, he pulled the arrow from the skull of the guard and put it back into his quiver. Parv ran behind and grabbed his arm.

"There are still five more guards! You can't shoot them all!" Parv pointed out.

"That's why I brought this," Strife whispered, winking and shaking a glass bottle in between them.

Pulling off the cap, Strife took a swig and passed it to Parv, who did the same and placed the empty bottle back into his knapsack. In a flash of purple and blue, their entire being turned transparent.

Strife sighed, "I can still see our armour."

"Well, looks like we're going to get a little bit cold then aren't we." Stated Parv with a wink.

Armour shrunken and in their bags, they eyed up the two already saddled horses pulling a small carriage each. Just enough. Stood beside the horses were two guards, their armour must've been thick enough that they would feel the slight movement of the air particles. Strife took the lead and ran to the horse furthest away from them; he was skilled and quick, resulting in none of the guards being alerted. Parv followed, he was slightly less skilled but just as quick, so once again the guards were non the wiser. In sync they both fully armoured up once again, they drove their horses into a gallop. Jumping back, the guards tried to load up their bows, not realising that Strife had taken all of the arrows they once held. Thirty seconds later, Parv and Strife's bodies reappeared to show them beaming brightly. Galloping towards Kroshan Point, the promise of loot driving them to go faster.

***

After just under two hours of riding, the two adventurers stopped at the base of Kroshan Point. Gazing upwards, Strife unmounted his horse and tied its reins around a loop by a small pedestal. The sun was already beginning to set and the temperature began to drop. Parv shortly followed Strife's actions, resulting in him being led towards a small door situated in the side of the mountain.

"Where are we going?" Parv asked curiously.

"I wasn't going to tell you this but I might've set up a secret base." Strife replied quietly.

"Okay... Are you going to explain why?"

"Well we could stash all our gear here instead of that other hovel in the woods. We can lock this door as well!"

Enthusiastic and smiling brightly, strife took out a key studded with rubies and diamonds and slotted in into the lock. He then pulled out a second key and slotted it into an adjacent lock. Two small clicks sounded and the door swung open revealing a dark passage way. Down the passage very few lights were hung to illuminate the path. Rocks as sharp as daggers painted the floor like tapestry in a high hall.

"Follow me and keep this safe." Strife whispered and handed Parvis the second key.

"Alright! Lead the way; I do need to drop off a lot of stuff from the last few missions."


	3. Chapter Three - Atop The Peak

Water dripped from the ceiling and puddle on the floor. The fire which tipped the torch shone brightly throughout the tunnel and reflected off of the walls and from the moisture held in the cave. Parvis coughed quietly, but the sound became amplified due to the small size of the passage-way. The passage widened until it opened up into a large, glistening stone room.

"Wow," breathed Parvis breathlessly, "how long did this take you?"

"I just hired some people in when we had to travel all the way over to Kyrosoka, don't worry, they wont be telling anyone anytime soon." Strife smirked.

Parv hesitated. "Wait... you killed them?"

"Of course not! They just had a slight fall when roaming the mountains."

Parv edged away from Strife slightly and began taking potions out of his knapsack and storing them on the elegant gold and ruby shelves. Across the otherside of the room Strife was storing his spare weaponry in the various display cases and pulled out the precious gems from past missions and poured them into an urn. Once all of their valuables and spare equipment was away, Parvis began walking towards the door.

Strife began to question his actions. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going out," Parv replied with a hint of confusion," is that not what I'm supposed to do?"

"There's a staircase going up to the peak, you haven't see everything." As Strife replied, he began to stride to the opposite side of the room.

"Oh I know I haven't seen everything," Parvis mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Within a few steps, Strife found himself beside an intricately designed mahogany door, which led to some stairs ascending up the inside of the mountain. Once the door was open, the two began their climb up the steps to the peak. Running a hand along the banister, Parvis began to question what exactly Strife had been doing between missions.

"What are these banisters even made from? They're so smooth and elegantly carved." Parvis said, staring at Strife.

"Well, it's made from all the spare ebony armour we had laying around. Also we're going to need to _acquire_ some food sooner or later, we're starting to run out." Strife pointed out.

"Alright, we could just go hunting. There should be plenty of food up at Kroshan Point."

"Yeah... yeah."

***

Thousands upon thousands of steps later, Parvis and Strife came upon the door situated at the peak of the mountain. Opening it cautiously, Strife stepped out into the icy winter breeze which bellowed on the flat plains that stretch across the peak. Across the other side, three other figures stood fighting skeletons, another sat propped up against a rock.

Without a second thought, Strife unsheathed his bow as Parvis seized his ebony blade. As Parvis charged towards the group to save them, Strife stood back and readied his ice-tipped arrows. There were two screams, then silence fell onto the peaks like snowflakes. Every single figure stood still, the final skeleton crumpled to the floor in a heap of bones and dust. Strife wandered over to where the others were, keeping his bow firm in his grip. Blood flowed like a river from the wounds each new figure endures. A low grumble of pain emitted from the most injured, who had curled in on himself due to the pain.

"Hello," Strife said cautiously.

The tallest of the group spoke first. "Thanks for helping us, I thought we were gone," His bright blue eyes connected with Strife's as he spoke, "the name's Alex, but you can call me Smith. This here is Ross," Smith pointed to the second tallest who had short, ebony hair and piercing blue eyes."and this is Trott."

Trott had chocolate brown eyes and matching hair, which was tussled from the fight. He stood as though he were about to faint.

"And who's that?" Parv asked, pointing towards the doubled over figure.

Trott replied quickly, "We don't know, he killed about ten of them by the time we got here, but he must be weak."

"Basically," Ross began, "we don't know who he is, or who you are, but we're pretty sure he's not human."

"Well I'm Parv and this is my 'serious'" Parv said making quotation marks in the air, "friend and travel companion Strife, he's an alien."

As Parv explained what exactly they were and why they were here, Strife stepped lightly towards the broken figure. He gingerly reached out his hand to place it on their shoulder. As though Strife's hand were made of flames, the broken figure screamed in agony. Behind them, purple particles shone in the wind. Shortly after, a tall, masked brunette appeared. Everyone a top the mountain shrank back as he approached Strife, Strife shied away from the figure and edged towards Parv.

The tall figure scooped up the broken figure and summoned the flakes of snow to wisp around him. Parv held Strife into his chest and shielded him whereas the other three cowered behind a rock. Suddenly, a flash of bright purple illuminated the peak and the two figures were gone. 


	4. Chapter Four - Full Of Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rythian talks to Lalna and Sjin about something, before it all goes downhill. Strife confuses the new adventurers with his little secret.

Rythian teleported to the centre of Conohoil mountain range, his cape loosely hanging from his broad shoulders. In his arms was a limp and shaking Sjin, who clutched onto the front of Rythian's tunic for dear life. Blood cascaded from from the gash across Sjin's shoulders as he openly wept. Inhaling deeply, Rythian stroked the tips of Sjin's chocolate brown ears and hushed him quietly, then started for the door ahead of him before a certain 'scientist' came thundering towards him.

"Where have you two been?!" Then 'scientist' exclaimed, strutting over towards Rythian, who slowly started to back away.

"Lal, look, Sjin just wanted to train and," Rythian explained cautiously.

"And what? You just let him?"

"Lalna calm down please, I can fix this, just trust me for once."

"I will not trust you after last time Rythian, you almost killed him!"

"Because you removed the nightinganther he was wearing! It protects him from my magic you moron! Why not trust me?" Cried Rythian before storming off into the healing room, clutching Sjin tightly against his chest.

Lalna shouted after him, "We aren't done arguing!"

 

Gently, Rythian laid Sjin down on the straw bed, its cotton sheets slowly absorbing the bright blue of Sjin's blood. His hand came to rest at the edge of the bed before slowly slipping off to hand limply. Letting out a breath he didn't realise he was holding, Rythian began to mutter the healing incantation he now knew off by heart.

"Sotoro canthari dantar," His eyes began to glow a bright purple, "celara fogsure kaily," mystical patterns swirled in the air above Sjin's shivering body, "assitura oulanzi cazar," the patterns descended onto Sjin's wounds, closing them up."alytundre casu."

A sharp intake of breath alerted Rythian of Sjin's sudden consciousness and as though he hadn't just seen one of his closest friends die under his watch, he smiled.

 

Hours passed by before Sjin and Rythian finally gathered enough courage to confront Lalna about what had happened on Kroshan Peak. Slowly but surely, they both found Lalna in his 'laboratory' or so he calls it. Lalna had always been intrigued by cogs and other ancient mechanics. It had taken ages for him to finally tell Rythian what he was doing. He for one hated the idea since his entire existence revolved around magic.

As Rythian shook, Sjin strutted towards where Lalna was situated. With all the courage the could muster up, they confronted him.

"Lalna," Rythian spoke cautiously," we need to discuss this."

"We have nothing to discuss."

"B-but we do."

"Just shut up and go do some of your filthy magic!"

Sjin boldly stepped in front of Rythian, " Don't talk to him like that," his eyes flared red with anger. "if you dare speak to him like that again I will gouge your eyes out with my claws!"

"Oh I'd like to see you try, you're pathetic Sjin. We're only with you because we pity you."

Rythian's arm hooked around Sjin's waist just before he lunged for Lalna. In an instant Rythian teleported both of them outside into the cold, blistering wind that circled the mountain range.

"Why did you do that?" Sjin hissed out, clenching his fists by his sides. "You saw the way he was treating us, he deserves to be slaughtered!"

"Sjin-"

"No! I don't care if he's just 'stressed' because he's obviously not is he. He always does this. Whenever he gets mad he brings up his hatred for magic. If he hates it so much than why does he stay with us?"

"He has no where else to go."

"Yeah right, what about that Nano girl."

"Wait isn't she insane?"

"I thought she was just fluxed,you know that contagious purple goo you tell all of us to stay away from."

"Does Lalna hang around with her often?"

"Whenever you're out. He talks about her non-stop."

Rythian thought for a moment before doing a quick circle, concentration plastered on his face. "I think I know why he's acting so...so...ignorant lately."

"Really? What's wrong with him?" Sjin inquired.

"He's been fluxed."

*****

Strife paced around, contemplating what to do about the injured travellers. Ross had told them about a healer he knew who wasn't too far away, however he had been oblivious to the fact that they weren't exactly welcome anywhere. They quickly turned the idea down and decided to trust the travellers.

"Where are you going?" Smith asked Strife as they began to walk back towards the staircase.

"We're going to get you guys fixed up so you'll survive."

"Yeah,but where?"

"Just follow me."

Before Smith could protest, Strife opened the seal to their secret base shortly before descending the staircase. Parvis stayed behind Trott and Ross, making sure they followed Strife. As soon as Strife reached the door situated at the bottom of the staircase, Smith inhaled sharply as he noticed the intricately designed base.

"Follow me to the potions room!" Strife exclaimed cheerily.

Smith turned to Ross who was also very shocked at the sheer size of the hidden base. His mouth hung agape, surprise apparent in his eyes. They exchanged quick glances before following Strife into the potions room. Once they were all in, Trott began to hold onto Ross' arm. it was like nothing they had ever seen before, even though it may ave look like a regular apothecary, everything was decorated with varying metal, mainly dwarven metal at the structure blocks from old ruins. Strife slid over to one chest as Parv sorted through various shelves to find the correct potions. After a while, Parv walked over to where the three confused men sat and handed each of them a bright purple and pink flask.

"What is this?" Ross asked, swirling the potion around.

"It's a healing potion." Parv said simply.

"Yeah but what's in it? It's kinda important." Smith replied almost sarcastically.

"Uhhh-"

"It's just a simply mix of powdered gordania scales, indenberry elixir and dragon heart. You know, simple things to get."

Ross, Trott and Smith all stared at Strife (who was still rummaging in a chest) before chugging back the potions. In an instant there was a swirl of magic as the potion began to take its toll.

 

*** 

"What do you mean he's been fluxed?" Sjin yelled, no longer caring about whether or not anyone heard him.

"It's contagious Sjin, if he even touched Nano then he would've been infected. It's embedded into his skin particles and transfer into his blood. If he's fully human then this will be much worse than we've ever expected, if he's human than I'll need every ounce of my magic to take it out of him. I just hope that's not the case." Rythian sighed heavily.

"So, what do we do."

"I guess we ask him, it's the only thing we can do at this point. If we knew more, than maybe we could ask someone who knows more, but I don't know who."

"Perhaps that flying guy, you know the one I'm talking about."

"What?"

"The one who fucking flies Rythian!" Sjin threw his hands in the air, exasperated.

"There are a lot of magic people that walk these lands Sjin, anyway I have no idea who you're talking about."

"You do though. He runs the fucking _magic palace_! You've met him!"

"Oh... he might know"

"There we go!! Fucking finally. Now let's go." Sjin shouted before running at the side of a mountain, climbing towards the peak. He got a couple meters before Rythian grabbed his foot and teleported off.

 


	5. Chapter Five - Core of Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sjin and Rythian go to find Ridge to see if there's a simple solution for Duncan's flux problem.

 

 

The sun melted into the valley and the darkness continued to consume the light. Rythian stood outside the ancient gates of Rionithor Palace, he hoped that there would be no trouble when he entered, but no one could be too sure. There was a pristine silence as Sjin came up beside Rythian and grabbed his hand. The place was surrounded by a maze of magic and traps, those who made it through still had to face challenges to talk to the High King. It was rare for him to accept questions, but then again Rythian wasn't just anyone. Although he lived inside a mountain, he was still one of the most powerful mages that roamed the earth.

"You ready?" Rythian asked softly, it was going to be a difficult journey to get to the central palace but Sjin still nodded, determined to get his friend back from the flux.

"I'm as ready as you are. So not that ready then." Sjin moved slightly on his feet, warming up his muscles for the road ahead.

"Come on, let's start these puzzles."

Rythian sighed and took his first step into the maze, it was surprisingly quiet, almost too quiet for something not to be wrong. Looking around, he scanned the ground for any signs of runes that could trap them, this entire journey was just a game to the High King, a sick and twisted game. People would die every day just trying to go through it, it would always be a last resort for people who needed information, but Rythian knew every single turn of the maze and all the secrets it held. Some said that the ghosts of those who died in the maze still haunted it at night, of course, that was complete bullshit as Rythian would come here almost every other day just to keep up with the changes. Not to mention the fact that Rythian could easily monitor the High King without him knowing. Dark magic had its uses after all, and usually, nobody would bother someone who used dark magic as it would be seen as a felony. Sjin reached out his hand to hold onto Rythian's, he didn't know the maze as well as he did. A shiver ran up his spine as a cold wind blew through the maze, how there was so much wind in a maze, who knows?

Sighing heavily, Rythian ran his hand across the maze, there was another dead end, but then again, both turns had dead ends.

"Stay here for a second, I need to check something." Rythian let go of Sjin's hand and reached into his pocket. He pulled out an orb covered with golden runes. He looked up at the sky, noting that the sky had become a deep purple, almost black, and was littered with stars. There was pure silence as Rythian began to fly towards the vast oblivion that everyone calls the sky. He'd never really known why people had found it so interesting, but then again people didn't know why he found dark magic so interesting, or runes, or portals. Looking down at the maze once he was at the correct height, Rythian scanned the maze for any clues. Just as he'd thought. There was a pulse of energy in the maze, stopping them from continuing any further into the maze itself. It was easy to override as long as you had the right equipment and magic.

"This is too easy, next time give us something harder Ridge," Rythian muttered under his breath as he began to absorb the magic into the runed orb.

Letting himself drop, Rythian landed next to Sjin, who had already continued into the maze, it was easier than he'd imagined, almost too easy. As they journeyed deeper into the maze, the hedges changed, becoming seemingly more powerful than they were before. A singular snowflake drifted towards the ground before much more followed. Rythian continued to walk at a brisk pace, dodging every trap that was laid out ahead of them, however, Sjin had slowed down dramatically. His skin had paled and his eyes refused to glow any brighter than a novice mages' first light spell. Sensing that something wasn't quite right, Rythian turned around to look down at Sjin. He sighed once more and slipped off his robe, he handed it to Sjin who shook his head.

"Rythian, you'll freeze."

"No, I won't," He chuckled softly before wrapping it around Sjin, "I have dark magic to warm me, also the cold doesn't affect me as much as it does you. So I'm now forcing you to take it." 

Sjin whimpered as Rythian dragged him towards the centre of the maze. "Now we find our way to the palace, it should be easy."

"It seems too easy Ryth, what if we hit a trap?" Sjin asked, keeping his voice low so only Rythian could hear him. 

"I've scanned this place thousands of times, I know where all the traps are." A large grin was plastered on his face as he moved forwards towards the three different maze exits. "Now," he started to say once Sjin was beside him again. "Which route do you want? On the left there's the more complex and almost trap free route, in the middle, there's the rune-filled route and on the right is the normal route with sliding doors and floors." 

"How about you just teleport us to the front gate, I don't want to be stuck in a fucking maze for the rest of the fucking night. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm very cold! Just get me out of here!" Sjin yelled, breathing deeply afterwards. 

Rythian looked over at him and smirked, "You're adorable when you're angry."

"Shut the fuck up!" Sjin yelled before storming off down the right route. Rythian just continued to laugh before following on, just to make sure Sjin didn't get himself caught in a trap.

***

Smith, Ross and Trott had fallen asleep once the potion had begun to take its toll. There was a comfortable silence as Strife and Parv sat it one of the rooms that had been converted into a bedroom. It was colder than staying in one of the inns but still warmer than last night. Strife sighed deeply and he pulled the cow hide blanket tighter around him, his eyes stared up at the ceiling as he traced the patterns that had been carved into them. 

"What's wrong?" Questioned Parv caringly, it was normal for him to look out for Strife as he struggled with saying what he needed/wanted most of the time. "You seem quieter than usual."

"I'm fine, just tired. It's been a long day and I'm also kinda hungry. What food do we have?" Strife asked, looking over at Parv who was smiling softly.

"We probably have some berries and venison somewhere, I'll check the chests, you should lie down. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Parv got up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He gazed around the room until he saw what he needed, the door to the food storage was open. quickly, he made his way over so that he was able to find what he needed. Since he'd stocked up on food earlier without Strife knowing, there was plenty of meat around. Finding what he needed, Parv got the rabbit's legs, apples, and potatoes and chopped them all up appropriately so that he was able to cook them quickly. The fire had been stoked so the flames were able to crawl their way up from the pit that had been designed for the kitchen. Parv circled around it once, then twice, before finally putting the chopped up ingredients into the pan to cook. Luxurious smells began to drift from the pan as Parv stirred all of the roast so that it wouldn't burn. The edges of the rabbit had started to fall apart from the bones, the edges of the apples had turned a golden brown and the potatoes had crisped up. 

This is what Strife deserved, he spent all of his spare time getting leads off of people, no matter what danger he put himself into. Sometimes he would come out just as he went in, others with just a few scratches here and there, but then there were the times where he would come out of them only just conscious. The lengths he would go to just to continue the adventures Parv loved ever so much was extraordinary. But then again, that's what he was like.

Plates of all metals and materials were stacked upon the shelves. Some had intricately carved designs and dated back to the first era, others were plain clay from only a few weeks ago. Parv grabbed the plate which lay at the end, separate from the others. It's edges were curved upwards so that any liquids wouldn't spill off the plate. The metal it was forged from shone in the firelight as though it had been specially polished for this moment. Green and red swirls danced across the top of the plate, glistening elegantly like rubies and emeralds. The food was taken from the pan and placed into the dish; making sure it looked presentable, Parv carefully arranged the different ingredients so they were in their own section. 

"I hope it tastes as good as it looks." He mumbled as he made his way back to Strife's chamber.

***

Sjin stormed off ahead, making sure that Rythian was still behind him every now and then. He'd completely forgotten what Rythian had said about the different pathways; was he concerned? No. Did he regret it? No. Something about sliding walls or something ridiculous like that, how would the walls move without him noticing? They couldn't, that's how. 

Footsteps heavy, Sjin took random turns in the maze, purposefully ignoring Rythian when he hit a dead end. _He could just teleport us there._  Sjin thought, anger flowing deep within his veins. Yes, he was a lot warmer, no he wasn't any less tired or hungry. Rythian had warned him that it would be a long journey through the maze, and he _had_  forgotten to eat earlier. So Rythian was right about him being forgetful in the sense, but why would he care anyway?

"Sjin," Rythian interrupted the silence and Sjin's brisk pace by placing a hand on his shoulder, "We need to turn around."

"No, we're close!" Protested Sjin loudly, "I know we are, please don't make us stop."

"I said, we _need to turn around._ " Rythian insisted, but his voice never reached Sjin as he'd just continued on. "Sjin! Get back here now!" He yelled, shaking from fear.

"No! I won't listen to you anymore, I'm getting out of here!" 

"Sjin, please listen to me," Rythian pleaded, moving closer behind Sjin, his footsteps light and his movement almost silent. A rustling in the hedges caught his attention instantly. "Sjin! Look out!"

"Wha-"


End file.
